ספר דברים - פרשת כי תצא - כג:כה-כד:ד - ח

Verse 25 says: "When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat grapes as your soul desires, until you are satisfied, but you may not put any into your vessel." The verse is not talking about just anyone entering someone else's vineyard, which would be stealing. Rather, as we will see in Rashi, it refers to a worker who is working in his friend's vineyard. While working, the worker is permitted to eat as many grapes as he wants, to satisfy himself. However, he is not allowed to take grapes away with him or put them into his own vessels to take outside the vineyard. He can only eat what he consumes while working there.

Rashi explains on the words Ki Savo BeKerem Re'echa that the verse is referring to a worker. It is not talking about just anyone entering the vineyard, but specifically about a worker who is working in the orchard.

On the words KeNafshecha, Rashi says this means "as much as you want." The worker can eat as much as he desires while working.

On the word Sovecha, Rashi explains that this does not mean excessive or gluttonous eating. The worker is not allowed to stuff himself or overeat, but he can eat as much as he wants in a normal way, until he is satisfied.

The verse says, "But you may not put any into your vessel." From this, Rashi learns that the Torah is only speaking about the time of the grape harvest, when the grapes are being cut off the vine. At that time, the worker is allowed to eat as much as he wants, but he is not allowed to put grapes into his own vessels. The verse is referring to the time when the worker is putting grapes into the vessels of the owner. So, the Torah is saying: do not put them into your own vessels, but rather into the owner's vessels. If the worker was hired for other types of work, such as hoeing or tending to the vines (not picking the grapes), then he is not permitted to eat any of the grapes growing on the vine.

Verse 26 says: "When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pick the ears with your hand, but you may not lift a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain." This means that if you are a worker in the field, you are allowed to pick the grain with your hand and eat it, but you are not allowed to use a tool, like a sickle, to cut off a large amount to take with you. Only what you can pick by hand is permitted.

Rashi explains on Ki Savo BeKamas Re'echa that this verse is also talking about a worker. It is not referring to just anyone entering the field and taking with his hand. Only a worker is allowed to do this; someone who is not a worker is not allowed to take anything from the field.

When a man takes a woman and is intimate with her, and it happens that she does not find favor in his eyes because he finds in her an unseemly matter, then he writes her a bill of divorce, places it in her hand, and sends her away from his house. The teacher explains that the verse is describing the process of divorce: a man marries a woman, but if she does not find favor in his eyes due to something improper that he discovers about her, he is to write her a get, a bill of divorce, give it to her, and send her away. The phrase Ki Motzo Bo Ervas Dover means he found in her an immoral or unseemly matter. The teacher notes that according to the verse, it is actually a mitzvah, a positive commandment, for him to divorce her in such a case. The verse is structured so that the reason for the divorce is the discovery of this immoral matter, and the lack of favor in his eyes is a result of that. If she would still find favor in his eyes, he would keep her, but since she is guilty of this unseemly matter, it is a mitzvah to divorce her.

On the words Ki Motzo Bo Ervas Dover, Rashi says that it is a mitzvah upon him to divorce her, so that she should not find favor in his eyes. The teacher elaborates that the verse is not just giving permission, but actually instructs that if he finds in her an immoral matter, he is obligated to divorce her. The reason is so that she should not continue to find favor in his eyes and remain with him despite her guilt. The mitzvah is to separate from her in this case.

And she leaves his house and goes and becomes the wife of another man. The teacher explains that the words Le'ish Acher mean to another man, and Rashi comments that this man is a different kind of person. The second husband is not a peer or match for the first husband, because the first one expelled an evil from his house, while the second one brings her in. So they are not equals; the second husband is contrasted with the first in this way.

On the words Le'ish Acher, Rashi says that this is not the peer of the first husband. The first husband expelled a wickedness from his house, while the second one brought her in. The teacher explains that this means the second husband is not on the same level as the first, because the first one removed something bad from his home, and the second one accepted it.

Then, if the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce, gives it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if this latter husband dies, who had taken her as a wife. The teacher explains that the verse is telling us that either the second husband will end up hating her and divorcing her, or she will bury him. Rashi says that the verse is informing us that in the end, he will hate her, and if not, she will bury him, as it says, 'or if the latter husband dies.' So the Torah is presenting two possible outcomes: either the second husband will divorce her, or he will die while married to her.

Rashi explains on the words, "U'snei Ha'Ish Ha'Achrein"—and the latter man hates her—that the verse is actually informing us that in the end, this second husband will come to hate her. If not, meaning if he does not end up divorcing her, then she will bury him, as it says in the verse, "or if the latter man dies." So the Torah is telling us that either he will hate her and send her away, or he will die while married to her. This is how Rashi understands the sequence of the verse, that it is almost inevitable that the second marriage will end either in divorce or in death.

The verse says, "Lo Yuchal Ba'alah HaRishon Asher Shilcha Lashuv Lekachta Lihyos Lo Le'isha Acharei Asher Hutama'a Ki To'eiva Hi Lifnei Hashem VeLo Sechati Es Ha'aretz Asher Hashem Elokecha Nosein Lecha Nachala." This means that the first husband, who had originally sent his wife away, is not allowed to take her back to be his wife after she has been with another man, after she was defiled. The Torah calls this an abomination before Hashem, and warns not to bring sin upon the land that Hashem your God is giving you as an inheritance. The teacher points out that the phrase "Acharei Asher Hutama'a"—after she was defiled—is unusual, and from here we learn that not only in the case where the woman was definitely married to another man is the first husband forbidden to take her back, but even in the case of a Sotah—a woman who is suspected of adultery, but it is not yet known if she actually committed adultery. During the time of the procedure, as described in the Torah, when she was secluded with another man, she becomes prohibited to her husband until the matter is clarified. So the verse is teaching us that the prohibition applies even in cases of doubt, not only when it is certain that she was married to another man.

Rashi explains on the words "Acharei Asher Hutama'a"—after she was defiled—that this comes to include the case of a Sotah, a woman who was secluded with another man. Even though it is not yet known if she actually committed adultery, just the fact that she was in hiding with another man is enough to prohibit her to her husband until the procedure is completed. So this phrase teaches us that the law applies not only to a woman who was definitely married to another man, but also to a Sotah who was only suspected and secluded.